Flexible knockdown container



J P. WILSON.

FLEXIBLE KNOCKDOWN CONTAINER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15. I917.

Patented July 8, 1919 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOnR/um co., WASHINdTON, D. c.

J P. WILSON.

FLEXIBLE KNOCKDOWN CONTAINER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15. 1917.

1,309,502. Patented July 8, 1919.

' Z SHEET$-$HEET 2- nveuf J PEARL WILSON, 0F JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA.

FLEXIBLE KNOCKDOWN CONTAINER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 8, 1919.

'Application filed May 15, 1917. Serial No. 168,794.

To all whom it may concern lle it known that I, J PEARL \VILSON, acitizen of the United States, residing at Jacksonville, in the county ofDuval and State of Florida, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Flexible Knockdown Containers, of which'the following isa specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in flexible knock-downcontainers, such as a barrel, or like receptacle having a general barrelformation at one or both ends, the fundamental purpose being to providea receptacle of this general type, which may be shipped in flat form inlarge quantities, thus occupying a minimum of space, but which iscapable of being easily set up in the form of a closed or ventilatedreceptacle or barrel for shipping dry or perishable goods, as the casemay be.

With these objects in view, my present invention comprises a web whichis made up of staves of any desired dimensions as to thickness, width,and length, one or both ends of which are kerfed or otherwise slotted,and the edges of which are placed contiguous to each other and bandedtogether by wood, metal, or other flexible means stapled or otherwisesecured thereto to admit of flexibility of the web, so that it can beflattened out for convenience in shipping, or bent into form for fillingand packmg.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a view of the completed barrelor container;

Fig. 2 is a view of the web or blank;

Fig. 3 shows a modified construction, showing nesting;

Fig. t shows a slightly tapered kerf adapted for a dry barrel;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing a chime;

Fig. 6 is a detail; and

Fig. 7 is a view showing a method of securing in the head.

l/Vhile the barrel may be composed of staves made up of sawed material,for economy of construction I prefer to use veneer of from a quarter tosay three-eighths inch in thickness, as by this means there ispractically no waste material, and the stock is of sufficient thicknessto give the required strength.

Each stave 1 is of appreciable width, and for an ordinary standardvegetable barrel,

such as is ordinarily used for shipping potatoes and apples, thesestaves are preferably twelve inches in width, and five of them (whenplaced edge to edge) are just enough to make up the standard-sizebarrel. These are kcrfed at opposite ends to a suitable depth, as shown,whereby to divide the ends into six divisions, and this may be done by agang of some seven saws placed approximately an inch and tln'ce-fourthsapart, thus making a half kerf at the two edges, and five intermediatekerfs. These kerfs are extended in from each end of the barrel about athird the length of the stave, or agreater or less distance as desired,but leaving an uncut or unkerfed' central area 3, forming the center ofthe barrel of solid material, though flexible.

Binding bands 4, preferably two in numher, which may be of strong wire,are secured to this central portion at suitable distances apart,preferably by staples 5, 5, this being done in a standardstapling-machine, in this way a web constituting as many of these stavesas desired, .for instance live, is easily and quickly made up in one ofthese stapling-machines, leaving the ends of the binding-bands free tobe bent together when the web is bent up into the form of a barrel.

In shipping, the web thus formed is packed perfectly flat, and by actualmeasure ments three thousand can be shipped in an ordinary car, asagainst three hundred complete barrels, which gives an idea ofcomparative space.

In setting up the barrel, while it may be done in any convenient manner,I propose to use a form consisting of a cylindrical body portion adaptedto come opposite the center of the barrel, and having a member extendingoutwardly therefrom against which the head (3, of the barrel is placed.This may be placed on the floor, or extended horizontally on some sidesupport, and as a convenient means of drawing the end of the web tightagainst the head 6 placed in one end, a rope 7 suspended from some pointabove is wound once around the end of the barrel, and its lower endconnected with a treadle which, when depressed, applies the requiredtension around the end of the web to draw it uniformly together aroundthe head, after which the usual hoop 8, of wood or metal is placedaround the end and secured.

After the barrel is filled, the other head may be placed in, in similarmanner, if desired, or in any other convenient way.

In a barrel, for perishable fruit, which requires ventilation, thekerfsmay be parallel, but in a tight barrel for dry goods, such assugar, flour, corn-meal, or the like, the kerfs (as shown in Fig. 4:)are tapered, so that the edges of the kerfs come in close contactthroughout their length, thus making a perfectly tight barrel.

It may be desirable also to form a chime to receive the head in a barrelof this character, in which event the stock would be a little thicker,say three-eighths of an inch, instead of a quarter, and the chime 9 isprovided (as shown in Fig. 5) to receive the edge of the head. Likewise,if desired, a band 10 may be placed inside the center, (as shown in Fig.6).

If desired, instead of making a complete barrel, by sawing through thecenter, as for instance, on line XX of Fig. 1, a tub having a bottom andopen top can be provided, which is capable of being nested and shippedin that form.

A barrel of this form is cheap, easy to construct, is light, and can bemade of any timber which can be readily cut into veneers. It can be madeinto webs on any well-known type of stapling machine economically. Suchbarrels can be shipped in large numbers in fiat form, and they can beeasily and quickly set up into barrel form; and when headed and hooped,are strong as any other stave barrel, as they become well braced andreinforced.

In addition to the slight modifications mentioned, others might beintroduced, with out departing from the spirit and scope of myinvention; hence I do not wish to limit myself to the exactconstructions herein set forth, but

I claim a A knock-down barrel made from a web which is composed of aplurality of wide, thin, flexible staves, a portion at least of theedges being approximately at right angles to their main surfaces, oneend at least of each stave having a plurality of slots, and hoopsrigidly secured to the solid portion of the several staves at aplurality of points throughout their width, whereby to prevent the hoopsfrom slipping with respect to the stave, the staves and hoops soassembled that when in the mat the right angular adjacent edges of thestaves come close together or in contact so that when the mat is rolledinto barrel -form and the outer ends are secured together in thecompleted barrel, the several edges of the staves are drawn into tightercontact with each other due to the tendency of the stave edges to yieldand the hoops to be subjected to strain without slipping.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

J PEARL VWILSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patent: Washington, D. G.

